Finally, though the XPS line was kind of a double edged sword, you could get some really good performance on a nice looking machine for a good price, but I've known too many non-technical folks who got caught with those damn Dell proprietary components, connectors plus the often limited BIOS options. And then when they wanted to upgrade it was quite difficult. However I remember seeing Dell change this in the recent line release butit would make better business sense for Dell-Alienware to offer a more "affordable" gaming machine instead of the XPS line. It's too bad most of Alienware machines come with a mysterious huge markup on their components, which is most likely attributed to that little Alien head on the machine...lol...

Of course this all being said, I always build my own or buy from a vendor who can undercut a "build your own" and then you can modify as necessary.